POLICE investigating the theft of Irish language street signs in Belfast believe the incident to be a ‘sectarian motivated hate crime’.
PSNI officers in south Belfast were alerted to the theft at around 1.40am on Sunday, June 9.
They received reports that a man had walked into the Haypark Avenue area and removed two bilingual Irish language street signs and then walked off in the direction of Ailesbury Road.
The incident happened in the Haypark Avenue area of Belfast“We are treating this incident as a sectarian motivated hate crime and I would appeal to anyone with any information about the incident or who has CCTV or doorbell cameras which may have captured footage that could assist with our enquiries, to contact police at Lisburn Road on 101, quoting reference number 448 10/06/24,” the PSNI’s Inspector Luke McAnee said today.
The man is described as being around 5’11” tall, with short light brown hair and of a heavy build. He was wearing a green coloured T-shirt.
A report can also be made online using the non-emergency reporting form via https://www.psni.police.uk/report or you can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information.
